I heard back from Taylor and it's a go! We're making this happen! Just a recap for those who are just joining in on the conversation now... About a month ago, I started talking with a lady named Taylor who is a wish granter for Make-A-Wish Foundation. There is a little girl who is undergoing cancer treatments who will have her wish of visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter granted, but in the meantime, they wanted to give her little HP gifts. She contacted a former member of HPC, who contacted me because she can't craft what Taylor had requested anymore. I asked the group to see if people were willing to jump in and make this happen, and heard nothing but positive comments, so I contacted Taylor again.

Here are the infos I have so far:

The girl's name is Samantha
She's in 3rd grade (so that makes her what? 8? 9?)
She's undergoing cancer treatments at Seattle Childrens Hospital
She lives roughly 2 hours south of Seattle
She's a Gryffindor... I'm a Ravenclaw/Slytherin, but in this case, I say ggggoooo Gryffindors!
She's going to visit WWoHP around Halloween time, but she has to finish her treatments firts.
She's a huge fan who has read the books 4 times EACH
She's intelligent (I think the previous bullet covered that already!)
She plays soccer
Her favourite character is Hermione
Her favourite movie is Half-Blood Prince
Her favourite book is Deathly Hallows

Taylor says she can provide anyone with an "in-kind" receipt from Make-A-Wish. She also mentions that if anyone has specific questions, to let her know and she will ask. Now as far as organization goes, Taylor says she doesn't have anything specific set up to receive donations, so she gave me her home address. Dianne, did you still want to go deliver in full HP garb? If so, maybe we can ship to your address? Also, since she lives south of Seattle, would you be willing to travel that distance? Or maybe I can ask if you can go directly to the hospital? Let me know!

I'll set up a poll for this, just like we always do for swaps. Is a month enough of a crafting time before shipping? I want to give everyone ample crafting time. Oh! And since this doesn't have to be kept secret like regular swaps, how about we share what we're making, our progress, etc. here? I know it would get me even more hyper!

I heard back from Taylor, who I've wrongly thought was a woman. Oops! He is thrilled with everyone's participation so far! He mentioned that Samantha has a 7 YO younger sister named Jasmine, who is mildly interested in HP but is getting into it because of her sister's wish. He said that all the family shaved their heads to show support for Samantha... I find that beautiful and amazing.

But back to Jasmine, he mentioned it would be nice if some of the crafts could be addressed to her, just so she doesn't feel completely left out.

As Jennifer had done, here with the twill tape laid flat against the bustle

( I used Grosgrain ribbon because it's what I had in the house)

Instead of one whole piece of ribbon for each strip, I instead opted to stitch 2 pieces together, so that I could tie up each bustle section separately and could disassemble the bustle for ease of transporting to and from the con.

Here you can see the top portion of the bustle tied up ( without the grosgrain)

Full bustle tied without grosgrain ribbon inserts.

Don't know if it's easy to see from this picture how the grosgrain ribbon sections slip in between the bustle sections.

Fan fiction, or fanfiction (often abbreviated as fan fic, fanfic, or simply fic), is a broadly defined fan labor term for stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator. Works of fan fiction are rarely commissioned or authorized by the original work's owner, creator, or publisher; also, they are almost never professionally published. Due to these works' not being published, stories often contain a disclaimer stating that the creator of the work owns none of the original characters. Fan fiction is defined by being both related to its subject's canonicalfictional universe and simultaneously existing outside the canon of that universe.[1] Most fan fiction writers assume that their work is read primarily by other fans, and therefore tend to presume that their readers have knowledge of the canon universe (created by a professional writer) in which their works are based. - Wikipedia

I'm going to admit it. I like fan fiction. Good fan fiction, mind you. Something written well, with actual knowledge of the subject matter.

Sometimes when I'm bored, I enjoy getting lost in a few stories. There is something satisfying in seeing another person's take on lives of characters that you've fallen in love with - especially if they really have a good grasp of the source material.

Ever want to give it a go? Either writing or just dabbling to read now and then?